VARIETY OF TREES. 
31 
growth, the gum of New Holland, and the pine of 
New Zealand, rearing its straight and branchless 
trunk, two or three feet in diameter, forty or 
fifty feet, and spreading above a light crown of 
pale green leaves, not much unlike the leaves of 
the English ash. The wood, which is harder than 
the pine, and of a beautiful pink or salmon colour, 
is easily worked and durable. It is frequently 
used' by the natives in building their canoes. 
The faifai is another tree resembling this, but 
rather smaller in size, of a bright yellow colour, 
and hard texture. Numbers of small kinds of 
timber are found in the mountains, but these two 
are the most valuable. 
Next to these there is a numerous class that 
grow on the sides of the hills, and connect the 
forests of the mountains with the woods of the 
valley or the plain. The principal of these is the 
aito, or toa, casuarina equasitifolia; the shape of 
this tree is remarkably light and elegant, and 
its appearance is superior to that of the most 
graceful of the firs. The wood when first cut has 
a deep red, but on exposure to the air it assumes a 
dark chesnut or black colour. It is exceedingly 
hard, and more durable than any other in the 
islands : by foreigners it is often called iron wood • 
and was formerly employed by the inhabitants in 
the manufacture of their implements of war. The 
reva, galaxa sparta, is another large and useful 
tree, growing on the sides of the mountains, 
where is also found the tiairi, or candle-nut tree, 
alurites triloba . The form of this tree is stately; 
the foliage, beautifully white, gives a pleasing 
relief to the verdure of the mountain sides. 
The most valuable and beautiful trees are those 
that grow in the valleys or plains: the chief of 
